quote:Two of the most intriguing prospects on Australia's national team are both contemplating permanent trips to the United States these next few months.

Both Ben Simmons, an elite 2015 forward prospect, and Dante Exum, a three-star 2014 guard, could be making their way to America soon.

Exum said he's ruled out coming to the States for his senior year, but he'll definitely be heading to college in America in 2014.

"My dad is from over here," said Exum, who's father Cecil was a member of the 1982 national champion North Carolina squad. "So that kind of influenced me to play college ball."

He has no idea where he wants to play for, however. He claims offers from LSU, Boise State and SMU right now, but admittedly hasn't even peeked into a college decision yet.

"I haven't really looked like deeply into schools," he said. "Like what really interests me with the coaches and some of the players that they have and the education."

Simmons, meanwhile, doesn't have his future quite as planned out. He's still thinking about maybe heading to America this upcoming year for his sophomore season, even though that appears unlikely at the moment.

"There's more athletic people over here," Simmons said. "So there's more competition."

He also has a brother, Liam Simmons, who conveniently coaches a boys basketball program at a smaller high school in Arizona. Then there's his sister, who lives in Chicago, surrounded by several top high school basketball programs as well.

And, of course, there's Huntington Prep and Kingdom Prep, who are both recruiting him to play for their programs. But for now, the plan appears to be to stay in Australia for one more year, then seriously contemplate the move to the States for the final years of high school and the four years of college.

"I guess staying in Australia and coming over for college would be better in some ways," Ben said. "But coming over here, I would get more exposure, so that would be a lot better."

quote:With the July evaluation period over, Rivals.com national analyst Eric Bossi can take a step back -- and a breath -- and answer some reader questions in this week's basketball recruiting mailbag.

Australian ballers Ben Simmons and Dante Exum have made names for themselves this summer. Where would they rank in the classes of 2015 and 2014? -- Joe, Los Angeles

There is no question that Simmons and Exum -- who both attend the Australian Institute of Sport -- have made scouts, recruiters and coaches take notice.

Let's start with Simmons. At around 6-foot-8, Simmons is already pretty polished as a low post and perimeter scorer. He has excellent size, good athleticism and a high basketball acumen.

Watching him at the Pangos All-American camp in June, it was hard to come up with five prospects in the class of 2015 who would rank ahead of him if the level of play he showed in Long Beach is something he can do regularly.

Of course, Simmons is still very young, needs strength and has had very limited exposure in the United States so we need to see if he was a one hit wonder or a true potential phenom.

A class of 2014 prospect, Exum created a pretty sizeable buzz at the 17 and under world championships at the beginning of July. Then, the 6-foot-5 combo guard was very good at the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas and he replicated that effort at Adidas Nations (where Simmons shined as well). He's at least a four-star prospect and a very conservative estimate would put him into at least the top 50 -- if not a bit higher -- for the class of 2014 at this juncture.

quote:I know David Patrick is an Australian guy but he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire recruiting from there, has he?

At St. Mary's, he is basically responsible for the entire Australian movement they have going on over there, including Patrick Mills and all of their other Aussie Studs. He recruited Australians to Nicholls, as well. He was hired by LSU after the signing period was over, so he hasn't had much time here.

quote:Dante Exum: After playing well in Las Vegas at the Super 64 and then drawing rave reviews early in the Adidas Nations event, the 6-foot-5 Australian combo guard was outstanding. He's got command of the ball, a great first step and a body built to finish through contact at the rim. His jumper is solid and he reads the high ball screen very well on both defense and offense. Could he be a five-star in 2014?

Ben Simmons: Simmons was a few finishes/shots that rattled out of the rim away from having a monster game. Still, he showed flashes of what appears to be a pretty immense talent level. The smooth southpaw is a dangerous jump shooter with easy three-point range, rebounds instinctively and has a high overall skill level.

Craig Victor: At about 6-foot-7 or so, Victor is a bit of a 4/3 tweener when it comes to position. He shoots the ball well from the elbow area, has gotten stronger and helped to change the game against Australia for the USA 2014 Blue with his work on the glass. He had a solid outing to get 13 and 10 without forcing anything.

Not so. Australia may not have the total numbers of prospects as the US but they certainly have some quality players. LSU is still not and may never be such an elite program that there won't always be a couple of dozen players from Australia that we wouldn't be thankful to have and that could contribute to our program.

When we played Nichols this past season they had a couple of Australian players who would have made our team and one who would have started.

quote:* Down in Dallas, junior small forward D'Angelo Allen has been making a name for himself. Ranked No. 72 in the class of 2014, the 6-foot-6 small forward’s summer coach Erven Davis says that Allen has now accumulated offers from South Carolina, North Texas, UT-Arlington, Texas, Oregon, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, SMU, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Providence. Others showing major interest include Maryland, TCU, Georgetown, Minnesota and LSU. According to Davis, Evans plans to visit local and state schools in the fall.

Nope, but I think he's going to narrow down his choices to his top five within the next few months. I'll try to see how LSU fits in the picture. I must say though, LSU has a hard hill to climb to get him. The better he plays on the AAU circuit, the more attention he's getting from powerhouse programs like Kansas, Baylor, UNC, etc.